BREAKING: Portland Antifa-affiliated rioter Robert Hoopes sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for brutal assault against ICE agent

Hoopes was convicted in February of aggravated assault of a federal employee with a dangerous weapon, resulting in bodily injury, after pleading guilty to a plea deal that dropped a lesser property damage charge.

Oregon US District Court Judge Nelson appeared sympathetic to Hoopes, who expressed remorse for his actions. However, she noted the seriousness of the incident and added enhancements to her sentence. Hoopes, a self-described "Quaker pacifist," has no prior criminal history.

Prosecutors described Hoopes as violent, saying he made a series of bad choices, and this was not just a simple mistake, which is what Hoopes told the Court. "He used violence multiple times, postured and threatened," the US assistant attorney said, adding, "He struck an officer [with a large rock] at point-blank range."

The prosecutor asked Judge Nelson to impose a 46-month prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release, along with a $250,000 restitution. "The men and women who were at that building were scared," she said. "This event is the most aggravated form of conduct that occurred at this ICE facility."

In a victim impact statement read to the Court, the ICE Special Response Team (SRT) officer wrote that Hoopes "posed a deadly risk and his actions created a deadly force scenario...and if left unpunished, undermines the rule of law and emboldens others."

The gallery was packed with Hoopes' family and supporters, as well as federal officers. "I accept full responsibility for what I did, and as the video shows, I was violent," Hoopes told the judge, choking back tears. "I will carry the knowledge that I did this for the rest of my life."

On June 14, 2025, Hoopes breached the front door of the ICE facility on Macadam Avenue and threw a large rock at an ICE Special Response Team (SRT) officer's head within close range. The incident, which occurred during an hours-long siege of the building on "No Kings Day," resulted in the ICE officer sustaining serious injuries, according to an FBI affidavit. The criminal acts were captured on surveillance video.

Hoopes was captured on surveillance video gathering and throwing rocks at federal officers and the ICE facility. Photo courtesy: FBI affidavit

Photo of Hoopes throwing a rock at an ICE officer's head and the agent's injuries. Photo courtesy: FBI affidavit

Hoopes was among a group of black-clad demonstrators who used a makeshift battering ram to strike the ICE facility's main entrance doors, causing more than $7,400 in damage to federal property. While Hoopes committed the act in "concert" with other agitators, the affidavit states that he was "leading the charge." The defendant also barricaded the facility's doors with objects and debris, according to video evidence.

Hoopes was captured on surveillance video using an upended stop sign as a makeshift "battering ram." Photo courtesy: FBI affidavit

Hoopes, a self-described "Quaker pacifist," a description used by local media to falsely portray him as non-violent, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on July 25, 2025, during a raid at his home, which he shares with his Antifa-affiliated girlfriend.

The defendant was concealing his identity during the riot and was not immediately taken into custody because the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) refused to respond to the scene due to sanctuary policies, leaving a small group of outnumbered federal agents defending the facility by themselves, federal sources told The Post Millennial. The FBI ultimately identified Hoopes through facial recognition software after discovering an unmasked photo of him tending to another rioter that was published in the Oregonian, a local newspaper.

Robert Jacob Hoopes

Federal agents used this photo of Hoopes, featured in The Oregonian, to uncover his identity through facial recognition software. Photo courtesy: FBI affidavit/The Oregonian

As a result of the facial recognition software, 30 photos were produced from various public databases, including one from Reed College, which depicted a man with a similar build and an identical tattoo to the subject. An FBI agent interviewed Reed College's community safety director, who disclosed Hoopes' identity. Reed College, a progressive institution and the defendant's alma mater, subsequently terminated the community safety director for providing Hoopes' identity to the FBI, claiming the decision violated policy despite the public safety concern.

On July 10, 2025, FBI agents placed Hoopes under surveillance and captured a photo of the defendant outside his home with an identical tattoo matching the subject's. The photo evidence gave agents the green light to obtain an arrest warrant and take Hoopes into custody.

FBI agents captured this image of Hoopes while conducting surveillance at his Portland residence. Photo courtesy: FBI affidavit

Hoopes is the second of more than 30 defendants sentenced to jail for crimes committed at the Portland ICE facility since June 2025. He was not immediately remanded to prison and will report in the coming days.